High-impact teaching practices in higher education: a best evidence review

Abstract

In this paper, we report on an attempt to systematically discover reliable and high-quality evidence on teaching practices that have an impact on student learning. We adopted an innovative approach that was modelled on some of the practices of a systematic review. Papers that met certain quality criteria (population generalisability, ecological validity, measurement validity, logical clarity and design justification) were examined and a weighted-average score for each paper was calculated. These were then ranked to derive lists of best-evidenced and most impactful teaching and curriculum strategies. The results reveal that this method provides a reasonable approach to distilling the availabl..